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“We got 30 offensive rebounds. We scored enough points to win,” Calipari said afterward. “But then it came down to some breakdowns defensively, and the other thing was, R.J. (Barrett) had it going.”

Barrett, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the 2019 recruiting class and holding a scholarship offer from Kentucky’s Calipari, scored 25 points in the first half to power the Canadians to a 45-42 halftime lead. The United States briefly pushed ahead 53-52 midway through the third quarter, but Canada stiffened.

A three-pointer by Barrett from the top of the key gave Canada its largest lead of the game to that point at 66-57 with 15 seconds left in the third.

“I told the team after the game, I needed to try some different things — go zone, trap pick and roll, trap him,” Calipari said. “I kind of rode it because I thought we would figure out something, and that is my mistake. That’s not these kids’ mistake.”

The cold-shooting U.S. had little success chipping away at the deficit in the fourth quarter. Canada led 89-78 when Barrett fouled out with 2:55 remaining and held on from there. Canada’s players celebrated wildly at midcourt after the win, which ESPN’s commentator called one of the greatest in Canadian basketball history.

Canada celebrating their historic victory over USA in the semi-finals of the FIBA U19 World Championship. Fantastic game. pic.twitter.com/uu2PDRQ4Bj

“They beat us to some balls at the end, some free throw misses that we needed to get our hands on,” Calipari said. “We could have come down and made a three, and now it’s a three-point game with 28 seconds to go. Anything can happen. But, the reality was, one kid really went crazy, and then the rest of their kids did what they did, so hats off to them. Congratulate Canada, they deserved to win the game.”

“As a team today, we were off,” Washington said. “Everybody was against us. I feel like we could have done better, but I think we will bounce back tomorrow and we’ll be all right.”

The United States made just 28 of 85 attempts from the field (32.9 percent), including 6-for-23 from three-point range. Things were not much better at the foul line, where the USA went 25-for-43 (58.1 percent).

Diallo shot 2-for-11 from the field and Washington was 4-for-14. The two combined to miss 11 free throws.

Diallo played little in the second half, picking up his fourth foul with 7:05 remaining in the third quarter.

“(Barrett) had a great game, but I thought it was about foul trouble for us,” Washington said. “We were switching the screens and getting easy, ticky-tack fouls, and those just kept adding up for us.”

I told the team after the game, I needed to try some different things — go zone, trap pick and roll, trap (R.J. Barrett). I kind of rode it because I thought we would figure out something, and that is my mistake. That’s not these kids’ mistake.

John Calipari

The 6-foot-7 Barrett led Canada in scoring (19.0 ppg) entering Saturday’s game and was also averaging a robust 6.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists. It’s possible he could reclassify to the class of 2018.

The U19 World Cup was first staged in 1979 in Brazil and was held every four years. Since 2009, the event has been played every two years. The United States has won six of the 12 gold medals, including the past two. The U.S. also has three silver medals. No other country has won more than one gold medal, those being Serbia, Greece, Lithuania, Australia, Spain and the country formerly known as Yugoslavia.

“What an incredible moment for Canadian basketball, for these kids, for this team,” Canada Coach Roy Rana said. “Great win, now we’ve got to move on and get ready to play for — as unbelievable as it sounds — a world championship.”

For the U.S., it’s on to a bronze medal game it probably never considered a possibility.

“It’s going to be a hard one, as a staff and all of us,” Calipari said. “You move on to the next one. In this kind of environment, you don’t even get a day to grieve. You just have to move on. So, we’ll go back and see if we can get something going.”

Double-doublefor Wynyard

Kentucky’s Tai Wynyard continued play Saturday in the consolation bracket of the World Cup.